Thursday, June 14, 2007
Politics For An American Idol World...
Labels: A Certain Ethnic Candidate, Barack Obama
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
New Media Giveth...
So, a few weeks back, Barack Obama got a big online boost from the anti-Hillary "1984" parody ad.
Well, one wonders whether the Obama team's behavior with this fan-created MySpace site will blow up in their candidate's face. Yes, we only have creator Joe Anthony's version of events to go on, but it has the ring of truth to me. Essentially, this guy worked for years on an Obama MySpace profile (he first put it up in November 2004) and the Obama campaign basically yanked it from him this week without compensation.
I believe Anthony when he says he wasn't holding out on the Obama people just for the money. Seriously. Given that the guy had brought in 160,000 MySpace friends, his price of $50,000 for creating and working on the site for two-and-a-half years was a remarkably fair offer. It comes to a bit more than $1600 a month.
Even if it wasn't, why couldn't the Obama people have come back with a counter-offer?
If Hillary Clinton or John Edwards are smart, they will hire Anthony very quickly. This seems like a very creative guy who has suddenly been victimized by the candidate who wants to "change the style" of politics. Not smart. Not smart at all.
(By the way, I'm aware that Obama and Co. might be legally in the right, given various laws covering cyber-squatting and the like. But politics is about more than just "legal" issues -- there are moral and "public relations" aspects in play as well. And on the latter, Barack Obama comes up short.)
Labels: A Certain Ethnic Candidate, Barack Obama, MySpace
Thursday, December 28, 2006
And the buzzword for today is ...
Will John Edwards play class warfare with A Certain Ethnic Candidate, pitting his "populist people's alma mater" law degree against one from that "fancy book learnin' school"? Will he brag about eatin' vittles by the cee-ment pond? Tune into the Democratic Party tomorrow, same bat[expletive] crazy time, same bat[expletive] crazy channel.
Edward's new bid for post-boomer Peace Corps votes here. The REAL One Corps here ...
Labels: A Certain Ethnic Candidate, John Edwards, Presidential Race
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Down With O.P.P. (Obligatory Political Post)
There was an article on today’s New York Post web site about a story that I’ve seen in a few other places: the increase in crime rates in many major metropolitan areas. Now, we all remember the “It’s the Economy, Stupid” mantra that wheeled Clinton into the White House (along with a chunk of votes taken out of the traditional GOP electorate by Ross Perot). Putting cops on the street and reducing crime was one of Bill’s major platform initiatives, as well.
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, have consumed our national mind (and treasury). It remains to be seen if any of the current candidates, or even the wannabe/gonna-be/possibly candidates, for president can bring them selves back down to Earth to forthrightly address domestic issues such as burgeoning inner city crime, immigration and (un)employment, or public education.
John Edwards has (accidentally) announced he is running for President. The place chosen for the formal announcement is a location involving domestic destruction, rather than a foreign policy institute or think tank. Though Hillary Clinton, Edwards and Oba---er, um, the certain ethnic candidate who’s name I promised not to mention this week---get all the media spotlight, the real urban political struggles and work lie with women and men not in the constant spotlight, like Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, NJ.
Anyone can run around the country giving feel-good, empty speeches and dishing out platefuls of platitude to the charismatically starved masses. Real leadership as an elected official is getting into the trenches, as Mayor Booker is attempting, and dealing with the daily bloodshed and social disintegration cited in the Post article.
Let the mainstream media and the NAACP give out useless Image Awards to the poster-boys-and-girls-of-the-month. Will the Democrats, Washington politicos of both parties, African-American so-called “leaders,” and the press be there to congratulate Mayor Booker and those like him, if they set off an urban transformation in reducing crime and violence?
Labels: A Certain Ethnic Candidate, Cory Booker, Crime, Presidential Race
